Day 754

Day 754...

After a lovely weekend away it was time to return home today.

But first we enjoyed breakfast in the hotel before stopping by to see Molly before we headed home. We took her out for 'coffee and cake' and then hit the road.

Unfortunately, we hit a little bit of traffic not long into the journey which set us back a little but we arrived at our first planned charging point and plugged in the car while we made use of the Starbucks on site. Just as we were about to head back to the car I checked the app on my phone and it said that the charge had been interrupted. We weren't too concerned as the app isn't the most accurate or reliable, but on reaching the car we could see that there had been no charge added to the car!! So we moved the car into a new spot and plugged in again...twenty minutes later and we were back on the road.

It was then a straight forward drive to our next charging station and this time we made absolutely sure the car was charging before we went in search of coffee. Another twenty minutes later and we had a car almost at full charge and ready for the last leg of our journey home.

Our approach to long car journeys has definitely changed and is now a much more relaxed affair. We now know that it will take some time and that we will need to be patient and accept that there maybe some waiting around. But also splitting a long journey into chunks makes the drive feel so much easier and way less stressful.

It was lovely to be back home and catch-up with Ethan and now it's time to catch up with this weeks RuPauls Drag Race and get ready for another busy day tomorrow.

See you then.
xx

Day 752

Day 752...

Today was road trip day as we were off to see Molly and Dan for the weekend.

So we had a relatively early start...not mega early just a purposeful getting up, packed and out on the road. And we had the exciting adventure of electric car charging ahead of us!!

Our first stop proved to be a bit of a challenge. Despite multiple chargers being on site most were in use and the one that wasn't being used was not working! We went in search of coffee in the hope that by the time we got back to the car a free space would have appeared. Although I did have to contend with the age old problem of motorway services...the stupidly long queue for the ladies toilet!! Why does that happen?

While waiting for our coffee Simon popped back to the car to see whether we could plug in yet. I found him chatting to another electric car owner who it turned out lived just a couple of miles away from us! But unfortunately there was still no free spaces. We then had a little charging station etiquette to contend with. A space came free but we let our fellow driver take the spot as it had the correct charging cable for his car as we knew the spot next to us was almost at full charge.

The couple next to us disconnected their car and motioned to us that we could have their spot...or at least that's what we thought. So we waited and nothing, no movement, no attempt to move, nothing. Thankfully Simon was able to reposition our car such that the cable would stretch (just) to our car...phew! We now decided it was time for food while the car charged.

And our quest to find a good low carb option was made possible, surprisingly, by M&S food. Picking up small packs of cooked bacon, cocktail sausages, flavoured chicken and a couple of hard boiled eggs - win! With our keto picnic consumed we headed back to the car to find that the couple who had been parked next to us had only just moved. This meant they'd sat there with a fully charged car and not moved...meaning no one could use their space which appeared to be rather rude! Anyway with an almost full charge we were able to get back on the road.

Our next charging stop was a lot smoother; four free spots and a Starbucks! Boom! In twenty minutes we were back on the road and heading towards Bournemouth.

Once checked in at our hotel we met up with Molly and Dan in the town centre and headed to a greek restaurant; The Real Greek. Another chance to have a suitably low carb meal by picking all the most appropriate, and mainly meaty, dishes! 

Afterwards we took a stroll down towards the pier and had a short walk along the seafront. We then headed over to Molls and Dans house to spend the evening over there and some time catching up.

Time for bed now and I'll see you tomorrow.

xx

Day 653 - Road Trip

Day 653...

Today was our first time using our new electric car for a long journey as we headed south to see Molly and Dan in Bournemouth.

This meant a relatively early start to the day as we got ourselves organised and the car packed. We had made sure that the car had a full charge and we had already set a route using the Zap Map app with a few different options for recharging. In theory the full charge should be sufficient to make the journey in one go but we had already noticed that the number of miles available dropped much quicker compared to the number of miles actually travelled. We also knew from watching some YouTube videos that most cars fall significantly short of the predicted miles.

With that in mind we set off just before 11am for what would be a 3 hour 15 minute non-stop journey. Let's just say our journey took a tad longer than that!

Our first stop was about 80 miles into the journey and when we arrived at the services all the charging points were taken! Thankfully a spot opened up quite quickly but then we discovered that one of the units would only let one car charge at a time rather than the two that it was designed for. But there was a small charger available which we could use as we had our own charging cable with us (the main charging stations had their own cables as these were fast/rapid chargers). But this smaller charger meant a much, much slower charging rate but we figured anything was better than nothing.

Ethan and I went in search of coffee and by the time we got back to the car one of the fast chargers had become free and so we could swap over. This meant that what we had hoped would be a 30 minute stop turned into about an hour!

Back on the road and we started to think about whether we would need another stop for charging and where would be best to stop. We had in mind a services that was around 60 miles from our destination. But when we arrived we were confronted with just two charging stations that were both occupied and had two cars waiting...mmm...we had a quick look on Zap Map and found another option just a few miles down the road.

This turned out to be a great choice; smaller services so not as busy; four units set to the side of a petrol station forecourt; two out of the four units were available; much faster chargers and once connected we could leave the car for a toilet break and to grab a coffee. About 30 minutes later and we were at 90% charge and had more than enough capacity to get us to our destination.

The overall journey took us 5 and a half hours!! A lot longer than it would have took us ordinarily; in our petrol car days we would have had one stop for a coffee so I think this journey took about an hour and a half longer! But what we recognised was that the urgency of a normal journey wasn't there, the whole journey felt much calmer and we had set off with the mind set that this would be a different way of travelling. 

The ease and quiet of the car, coupled with being very conscious of the effect of how we drove affected the charge available,  meant a completely different approach to driving. We knew it was going to take some time so we didn't rush and consequently the whole drive felt much more relaxed and much less stressful.

This is a very different way to drive and I think will take some getting used to and travelling long distances will take planning especially if a journey is time critical. But for us long journey's are not the norm and going forward we will have to accept that more planning will be needed. We have even said that on occasion it may be more beneficial to hire a petrol car, but for now planning will be key.

Although, we have been pleasantly surprised at how easy charging on the go has been. And we have also had some great conversations with other electric car owners, all of whom seemed to be rather new to electric cars and were happy to share their experiences!

Anyway back to the point of today, getting to Bournemouth to see Molly and Dan. Luckily the hotel we have chosen has electric car charging units; they are slow charges but are free! So we parked up and plugged in and left the car to charge away!

Once checked into the hotel it was time to recharge phones before taking the 10 minute walk into the town centre in search of food. Our choice today was Five Guys, a great fast food option for those of us on low carb diet as burgers can be ordered with your own choice of toppings and without the bun!

We then met Molly and Dan at the outdoor ice skate rink that has been set up for the festive season. I am not a skater and was quite happy to watch everyone else on the ice. Dan is a very accomplished skater and Molly is now very skilled and they both make it look so easy. Simon has always loved skating but after taking me many years ago when we first started dating he realised very quickly that me and skating just did not go together! He has therefore not skated as much as he would have liked but he has never lost the skill and looks very much at home on the ice. Ethan was happy to have a go but as it was about 10 years since he last ventured onto the ice he needed a good amount of help! But all credit to him he persevered and was getting better the more circuits he did. The ice was very wet tonight as the weather has been unseasonably warm so I think everyone came away with wet feet but thankfully no-one fell over...there were plenty others who did and who came away very wet!

We then had a wander through Bournemouth's Christmas Tree Wonderland; some lovely lights in a gorgeous setting. It was then time to grab a hot drink before heading back to the hotel.

Phew and that was our day, see you tomorrow for more shenanigans!

xx

Day 597

Day 597...
 

OK so I am writing this rather late and after two glasses of red wine!

It has been a busy old Friday and one that started out early this morning as we got ready to drive down south towards Bournemouth. After breakfast Simon had to take a parcel to the post office while I finished packing our overnight bag.  But by about 10am we were on our way.

Simon was driving his car packed full of Molly's stuff including her 2 meter long desk! Me and Molly were in her car and that too was packed full of her stuff. We loaded up Waze on our phones to guide us down and agreed to stop at Cherwell Valley services.

We had a slight hiccup just as we set off as the phone holder in Molly's car decided to unstick itself, but a quick stop and refit and we were on our way. We had a straightforward drive down with a short stop for a coffee and toilet break and we managed to travel down keeping both cars together the majority of the time.

By about 2.30pm we had arrived at Dan's house and began the unpacking of the cars which was a darn sight quicker thab packing them. We also managed to get Molly's desk and chest of drawers reassembled before we headed off to find our hotel for the next couple of nights.

Once at the hotel and checked in we got ourselves changed and then headed out for the evening. First we grabbed a bunless burger at Five Guys before finding coffee and cake.

It was then time to head to a club called Madding Crowd to see my favourite band, White Lies. They were playing a one-off small and intimate accoustic gig and they were absolutely amazing...as they always are. Such an honour to see them perform an accoustic set and they played my favourite song, First Time Caller!

It was so good to be doing something normal with no restrictions...no need for vaccine passports or masks or checking in. And apart from a few people wearing masks it felt like going to a club as it has always felt. A few hundred people singing their hearts out having a fabulous time, what more could you ask for.

And it was so good to walk back to the hotel seeing a busy town center on a Friday evening with people out enjoying themselves.

Well I've just about finished my glass of wine so I guess I'll see you tomorrow.

xx